


Of cats and dogs

by wildewit



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Animals, Gen, Kitten!Merlin, Puppy!Arthur
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-24
Updated: 2013-06-24
Packaged: 2017-12-16 00:09:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/855553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildewit/pseuds/wildewit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Puppy love!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of cats and dogs

**Author's Note:**

> America's Funniest Videos had a video of a puppy messing with a kitten, and this fic was born. It's my first fic ever, and it's not betaed—please let me know if there are corrections to be made!

Gwen knew she was pushing her luck. When she had started volunteering at the pet shelter six months ago, Lance had made her promise not to bring any (or all) of the pets that were dropped off at the shelter door. 

She'd been so good! She had only brought home Arthur, the yellow lab puppy, because they were thinking of putting him down. He had been at the shelter for two months, but despite his happy-go-lucky nature, no one was willing to adopt a half-blind puppy with a bad leg. She had to do something! She couldn't let them put down the brightness that was Arthur. Even as disabled as Arthur was, he was full of love and puppy kisses for all who came across him. Lance had taken one look at Gwen's teary-eyed face when she shared the news, and he had said, "Let's get a puppy!" And she just melted with how loving and considerate her Lance was. 

And Lance adored Arthur. He loved taking Arthur for a morning run and an evening walk. And more often than not, Gwen would find the two favourite men in her life tusseling on the couch or growling in Lance's den with one end of the chew toy in Lance's hands and the other in Arthur's teeth.

It's just that today, they had someone drop off some kittens at the shelter that some heartless jerk had tried to drown. Only one of the four kittens survived, and even so, this little one was barely hanging on. He—for it was a boy kitten—needed some serious TLC, and there was no way the shelter could take this kitten on when they were already over capacity. Gwen couldn't let the little guy suffer, or worse, die because they had more animals to care for than staff or more mouths to feed than money. She was sure Lance would understand. He would take one look at the kitten, and then take over his care. That was her Lance, a sweetheart to the core, even though he tried to be all grumpy about it. Plus Gwen already had plans to show him how grateful she was for his largesse. 

When Lance opened the door, he looked at the innocent expression on Gwen's face and knew something was up. And that something poked out his head from Gwen's coat a second later with a wet sounding meow. 

"No, Gwen, no way!"

"But Lance, please..."

"Gwen, you promised! And we already have..."

"Yes, and see how much you adore Arthur."

"That's not the point, Gwen, and you know that."

"Lance, someone tried to drown this kitten and the rest of his litter. He's the only one that survived. And barely that! Come on! Have a heart!"

"Gwen, that is sad and tragic, but can you imagine having a kitten that needs care with a rambunctious Arthur around?"

"We'll keep him on the dresser in the guest room. Arthur, can't reach that high. Please, darling, he needs us!"

Lance knew that with the woobie eyes of doom staring at him with that pout and quiver of the lower lip, he had lost the battle.

"Fine!"

"Oh, Lance! Darling! You're marvelous and so generous!"

Gwen kissed Lance, and then whispered in a seductive tone, "After dinner, why don't I properly thank you? Hmm?" Lance groaned. "Ugh! I have to wait until after dinner!" Gwen laughed.

~~~

Gwen found Arthur passed out on his back in Lance's den. He looked like he was having lovely doggie dreams, so she just chuckled and let him be. She would introduce him to the kitten later. 

She pulled a blanket from the donations pile, and cut it into smaller pieces to fit the cardboard box she had lined with newspapers for the kitten. Oh, she needed a name for him. She couldn't keep calling him kitten. 

"What do you want to call the kitten?" she asked Lance when he came in from the garage with the feeding bottle they had used for Arthur.

"Hmm... what about Merlin?"

"Merlin, the magician! Oh, it suits him perfectly, Lance. You're a mad genius with pet names."

Lance laughed and dropped a kiss on her nose.

Once Merlin was fed, Gwen and Lance had dinner and then Gwen showed how grateful she was for Lance's kind heart.

~~~

When Arthur woke up next morning, he smelled something in the air! Something was different. New toy? He decided to explore the house to find what Master Lance had brought for him.

With a body wiggle to shake off sleep, Arthur was ready for an adventure! He sniffed in the den, then in the kitchen, but the smell was coming from the bedrooms. Arthur followed his nose to the guest bedroom and saw the cardboard box on the dresser with his one eye that was some good.

That was it! His new toy! He knew because he'd received a gift in a box just like that one when peppermint was in the air. Arthur was so excited, he had to wiggle his body one more time!

He knew Master Lance thought he couldn't climb to the dresser, but all it took was jumping on to the bed, then on to the side table, and then with a jump, he was on the dresser. 

He sniffed at the box to see if it was a bone or something, but then fell to his bum when there was a little mewling sound from the box. resting his paws on the edge, Arthur peeked in and saw a ball of black and white fur. Arthur was even more curious now, so he climbed into the box and sniffed at the fur ball only to sneeze and make the fur ball shiver and mewl more. 

Arthur tilted his head, what was this thing? It smelled OK and made sounds. It seemed to Arthur that this was maybe another puppy, and this puppy was scared. Arthur decided to comfort the little thing with a thorough licking. Yes! That was the way!

So Arthur licked the little furry critter till it looked like a wet cat. A cat! Master had brought him a cat? He knew he wasn't supposed to like cats, but maybe this one was OK, if Master Lance brought him. It was scared, and Arthur was Master's "Good Boy," so he should help take care of it. He lay down to keep the kitty warm until it stopped shaking.

~~~

When Gwen got to the guest room for Merlin's morning feeding, she saw Arthur conked out in the box, and Merlin sitting up with his bright blue eyes looking around, trying to see everything at once. 

Gwen smiled at Arthur's persistence in getting to the kitten. She was glad too that Arthur seemed to get along with Merlin.

She went to pick up Merlin from the box to feed him, but at Merlin's timid meow, Arthur woke up and jumped to cover Merlin while looking around for any threats. When he saw Mistress Gwen, he whuffed at Merlin.

"That's Mistress Gwen, silly! She's here to feed you. She's very nice!"

Merlin calmed down and mrrowed a "Thank you!" to Arthur.

Gwen chuckled when she saw the communication flowing between Arthur and Merlin. Lance came to the room and asked her why she was laughing.

"This seems to be the start of a beautiful friendship."

~~~

Two months later

Gwen and Lance walked into the house after an exhausting, but exciting, day at the shelter, where most of the pets up for adoption had been taken into new homes. Gwen's excited chatter dropped off into a squeak, and Lance rushed into the guest room only to find the cutest thing he had ever seen in his life. Arthur was on the floor conked out after possibly chasing Merlin, trying to catch his tail, all around the house. Merlin, too, seemed to dropped in exhaustion when Arthur finally caught him. But what was adorable was the way Arthur's entire body rested on Merlin, and the way Merlin purred contentedly.

**Author's Note:**

> This is what Merlin and Arthur look like in my imagination:http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V4C5go6DSxg/T319hDcGUFI/AAAAAAAAHnI/-1a4eIpewXg/s1600/cute-puppy-dogs-puppies-pictures-112.jpg


End file.
